Eggnog
by Random Jelly Beans
Summary: “That eggnog has rum in it. Couldn’t you tell?” VaughnxChelsea; Fail attempt at a cute Christmas oneshot. Enjoy?


**Merry Christmas everyone! I wanted _so badly_ to write a little VaughnxChelsea thing for you all, so I squeezed this out. If Vaughn's OOC, please let me know; I've only just seen his purple heart event in-game :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. D:**

* * *

"I can't believe that Taro's making us all go out to the freezing Meadow, and on Christmas Eve, too!" I grumbled, folding my arms across my chest and glaring out my window at the lightly-falling snow.

I could hear the island's young ladies bustling around my small farmhouse, getting ready for the idiotic festival. Lanna was doing something fancy to Natalie's short pink hair, and Julia was applying makeup to a very uncomfortable Sabrina. Everyone was wearing their fanciest dress—except for me. It was _way_ too cold out to be in a skirt! Besides, what would be the point? I hated getting all frilled up, and no one would look at me, so why bother?

I heard Julia's airy laugh. "Please, Chels, you're just upset because your _cowboy_ isn't in town for the holidays."

I rolled my eyes. "I already told you. Goddess, Julia, Vaughn and I are _just friends_."

"Just _best_ friends, you mean," she pointed out, her amusement leaking into her voice.

"Whatever," I scowled, keeping my gaze fixed on my dark fields. Lanna started giggling.

"Chelsea, you're cheeks are all pink! You look so cute!"

I slapped my palm onto my forehead in defeat. Natalie chuckled, standing up as Lanna finished her last braid. She walked over to me and I turned to face her, my expression expectant.

"Chelsea," she started, eying my dirty farming attire and tangled hair, "aren't you going to… change? You smell like a cow."

I sighed. "I don't even _want_ to go! Why the hell would I change into some girly dress just to freeze my ass off in the cold, dark snow?"

"Hey, do you think I enjoy wearing something like this?" Natalie grimaced, gesturing towards her olive green dress. It came up to halfway down her thigh. She was going to be so cold. I smirked to myself, but before I could say anything, the rest of my guests walked over.

"Chelsea, you're going to this festival—even if we have to knock you out and drag you through the snow." Lanna growled. I felt my eyes widen; she was dead serious. A few moments of tense silence passed in the air. I sighed, reluctantly nodding my head.

"Fine, I'll go. Just… don't make me look like a Barbie Doll, please."

Julia and Natalie squealed while Natalie let out a satisfied smirk. Sabrina just hovered in the corner, fiddling with the hem of her floor-length pink dress. I shut my eyes and rubbed my temples. It was going to be a long night.

***

I shivered as we crossed the bridge into the Meadow. I couldn't believe they talked me into this… I struggled to walk on the damp grass in the silver heels that Julia had forced on my feet. It turned out that we wore the same size. How _fortunate_. I tugged self-consciously on the bottom of my light blue dress. It came halfway down my thigh, like Natalie's. The main difference in our dresses—besides the colors, I mean—was that mine had sparkles and a plunging neckline while hers didn't. I sighed quietly to myself. A small puff of white air appeared in front of me. I shivered again—it had to be literally freezing out there…

I heard my companions gasp as we entered the Meadow. I lifted my gaze off of my feet and looked around. The trees had been covered in colorful lights, and someone had put forth the effort to get some strings pulled across the clearing. It created a beautifully illuminated ceiling of sorts. There was a refreshment table set up on one side of the Meadow and a large wooden platform set up in the center. Great. Dancing.

"Elliot!" Julia called out to the pink-haired boy. He looked over and smiled. Julia blushed and walked over to him, causing Natalie to make a disgusted sound. She couldn't believe that Julia actually saw something in her older brother… I watched as Julia hugged Elliot, his face turning almost as red as her tiny dress.

I went to say something to Natalie about her brother and Julia, but was surprised to see that she was gone. I scanned the Meadow and saw her walking away with Pierre, the childlike gourmet. I also saw Lanna giggling with Denny and Sabrina with that blonde guy, Mark. I sighed and dragged myself over to the snacks.

I had to admit that the spread was pretty impressive. There was everything from gingerbread to sugar cookies to carrots. I picked up a candy cane and stuck the end in my mouth as I poured myself a cup of eggnog. I lightly wondered if it was alcoholic or not… Shrugging, I took a sip. It was pretty good. I finished it off and refilled the cup.

"You probably shouldn't drink too much of that stuff," I heard a familiarly gruff voice say from behind me. I turned around quickly, the candy cane almost falling out of my mouth.

"Vaughn!" I exclaimed happily, removing the candy from my mouth, "What are you doing here? I thought you had to work,"

He pulled his Stetson down over his eyes. "Yeah, I thought I did. My boss called me this morning and told me to take today and tomorrow off. Said something about too many unused vacation days…"

I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. "So you came to the island?"

"No, Chelsea, I went to Mineral Town." He rolled his eyes, but I could see the small smirk on his lips.

"Well, I wish you came here," I mumbled to myself, downing the rest of my eggnog. I went and refilled the paper cup. Vaughn raised his eyebrow. I frowned at him.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," He sighed. I shrugged, taking a sip of my eggnog.

I found myself scowling lightly at the dance floor and all of its inhabitants—Natalie and Pierre, Julia and Elliot, Lanna and Denny, Sabrina and Mark… I hadn't realized how lonely I was. How I never had anyone to go home to, how I didn't have anyone to make me feel better after a really bad day. Sure, I had good friends like Julia and Natalie, but they only helped me out to a certain extent. And Vaughn was the most reliable and trustworthy person I'd ever met, the only person who could cheer me up after a downright horrible day—but he was only on the island Wednesdays and Thursdays. I suddenly realized how much I always missed him when he was gone. I realized how grumpy I was on Fridays and how gleeful I was on Wednesdays and Thursdays…

"Hey," I said, turning back towards Vaughn. He had been scowling at the carrots on the table. He looked up at me.

"Hm?" He hummed, adjusting his hat again. I smiled.

"Wanna dance with me?"

I think I saw his face turn a little pink. I giggled—which kind of scared me a little, because I was _not_ the kind of girl that giggled—and pulled him out to the platform by his wrists after setting my eggnog down. I saw him eying me strangely as we stopped on the wooden floor. I ignored it and faced him just as a slow song came on. I glanced around and noted how the others were dancing—the girls had their hands positioned on the boys' shoulders, the boys had their hands on the girls' waists—and mimicked it. Vaughn followed suit and we swayed awkwardly.

Note to self: Asking Vaughn to dance equals _bad_ idea.

I looked at everything but my silver-haired, violet-eyed partner. I decided to focus on my feet, trying to ignore the burning feeling his gloved hands left on my waist. It vaguely occurred to me that this was my first slow dance with a guy. I blushed at that and forgot to keep track of my feet. I tripped on the air and fell forward onto Vaughn; lucky for me, he was a lot stronger than he let on, as he caught me _before_ I brought both of us down on the floor.

I looked up at him apologetically. I could see the amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Chelsea, you're drunk."

…What?

"Huh?" I asked dumbly. I wasn't expecting that—maybe a _watch where you step_ or a _don't be so klutzy_, but not _that_.

"That eggnog has rum in it. Couldn't you tell?"

I shook my head vacantly.

"Goddess, Chelsea, you're so lucky that I'm not in the mood to let you make a fool of yourself…" He trailed off, shaking his head. I frowned at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, unsure if he was trying to insult me or not. He just sighed and grabbed my wrist, leading me off of the dance floor.

"It means that I'm taking you home before you embarrass yourself." He explained. I pouted.

"I don't want to go back to the farm," I whined, "It's so lonely there… Do you have _any_ idea what it's like spending every holiday in an empty house, with _no one_ there to do _anything_ with?"

I saw him frown slightly as he started walking towards the bridge. I followed him and thought I heard him mutter something like, "You have no idea."

We made it halfway back to my farm before I'd had it with trying to walk in those damn silver heels. I was tripping on the _air_. I stopped and ripped them off my feet, ignoring the bitingly cold pathway under my bare feet. Vaughn watched me but said nothing, his eyes covered by his Stetson. We walked back to my farm with minimal stumbling and no talking. It was… kind of nice, just walking with Vaughn. With him, the silence was almost better than the conversation.

When we reached the front door of my farmhouse, I turned to face the animal trader. He was staring up at the starry sky, looking deep in thought. I contemplated saying something, but thought better of it. Suddenly, he looked me in the eye.

"I figured that, since you're not going to remember any of this tomorrow, I wanted to tell you… You look beautiful tonight," He mumbled, his cheeks turning pink. I wasn't expecting that—I felt my face flush.

"Th-thank you—" I stuttered. He interrupted me.

"Also… I wanted to let you know that I don't want you to feel lonely anymore. I know how much it sucks, so you can always—"

I cut him off by reaching up and pushing my lips against his. Why I did that, I will never know—but I was extremely pleased when I felt him returning the kiss. I pulled back, my face flushed, and smiled at him.

"Merry Christmas, Vaughn," I murmured, "And thank you… for everything."

He tipped his hat to me as I closed my door.

I remembered everything the next morning.

* * *

**Yay for horrible endings! Please let me know what ya'll think--it was kind of plotless if you ask me, but it was mainly writtenfor the fluff. Of course, I kind of hate it after I reread it... ah, whatever. It's 12:08am on Christmas day, so I'll let it go... Merry Christmas! :D**


End file.
